Malvern Prep vs Archbishop Wood

Malvern routs Archbisop Wood, moves to 2-0 heading into home opener

Malvern picked up another win Friday night, beating Archbishop Wood Friday night, 21-3. Skyler Smith was strong once again in his second career varsity contest, while a dominant defense limited the Vikings to just a field goal. The Friars move to 2-0 on the year.

After a three-and-out to start Malvern's night, Wood marched down the field with ease on their opening drive -- but Malvern was able to hold them to a field goal as the Vikings took an early 3-0 lead.

The Friars then got on the board in the following drive though, as Smith connected with a wide-open Chris Lake on a 54-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-3 lead.

Wood would later pick off Smith though and take it back to set the Vikings up in great field position. Malvern held Wood to what seemed like a field goal, but instead, the Vikings went into their bag of tricks -- trying a fake field goal, only to be tackled at the line of scrimmage and to give the Friars the ball back.

Smith then quickly led Malvern down the field, making several connections before Yaahdir Nash punched it into the end zone for a 14-3 lead late in the first half.

Malvern was then given another chance, as the Vikings fumbled the kickoff return. However, the Friars weren't able to make anything of the possession, and Malvern's lead was held to 14-3 heading into the half.

The Friars came out of the gates running in the second half -- literally and figuratively -- as Smith took a 38-yard quarterback keeper into the end zone to give the Friars a 21-3 lead. Earlier in the drive, Malvern went to their bag of tricks, as Smith threw a lateral pass receiver Ryan Falkenstein, who threw a 40-yard gain to receiver P.J. Holmes.

Not much took place from there, as Malvern picked up a pair of fourth-and-goal stops to hold the Vikings to their lone three points.

"Defense played awesome all game," head coach Dave Gueriera said after the win. "We didn't know what we were going to get with Wood. A small amount of scrimmage film on them, and then no game film -- they came out definitely pumped up and played hard. But defensively, I thought we matched it, and actually brought a little bit more intensity."

Smith finished his day 8-of-12 through the air, hurling for 140 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his second career varsity start. The senior tailback in Nash, after a slow start, had 14 rushes for 56 yards and a score.

"(Smith) played well," Gueriera said. "Nice play on the touchdown, the throw to Lake that he rolled out on and made a great play on that throw... And then the run, that was just great. We had Wood tired in the second half, he made a great run, and he exploded through the hole."

Malvern will head back home next week for their home opener against Imhotep, as it could be their toughest opponent of the year. And, it'll also be the debut of the new turf on Quigley Field.

"Oh my god, I cannot wait," Gueriera said. "Good first two games on the road, got two good W's against two good squads, and now we're ready to go and we're ready to go home -- and we got a really tough opponent coming up that we're all excited for."

Gueriera added some words of excitement about the first Friday night lights action under the new turf.

"I think it's awesome man, because it's kind of a new era of Malvern football, really. I think it's gonna be fun," he said. "I think we're also just excited to not have any more bus rides for one or two hours. We're finally home."

Quinn Riley '25